• Preface; Introduction; 1. Enlightenment and doubt; 2. History resolved by mind; 3. History resolved by men; 4. History resolved by laws I; 5. History resolved by laws II; 6. History resolved by laws III; 7. History resolved by will; 8. History doubted; 9. History ignored; 10. History unresolved; Conclusion; Bibliographies; Index.

'Hawthorn's approach has the merit of transcending a number of familiar and overworked polarities often used to give shape to the apparent heterogeneity of sociological thought … [His] accounts of France, Germany and Britain are terse, but rich, blending intellectual history with the sociology of knowledge in a way that avoids the reductionism to which the latter is so notoriously prone. [He] has summarized with extraordinary economy and lucidity the major developments in the rise of European Sociology.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Preface; Introduction; 1. Enlightenment and doubt; 2. History resolved by mind; 3. History resolved by men; 4. History resolved by laws I; 5. History resolved by laws II; 6. History resolved by laws III; 7. History resolved by will; 8. History doubted; 9. History ignored; 10. History unresolved; Conclusion; Bibliographies; Index.

'Hawthorn's approach has the merit of transcending a number of familiar and overworked polarities often used to give shape to the apparent heterogeneity of sociological thought … [His] accounts of France, Germany and Britain are terse, but rich, blending intellectual history with the sociology of knowledge in a way that avoids the reductionism to which the latter is so notoriously prone. [He] has summarized with extraordinary economy and lucidity the major developments in the rise of European Sociology.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Preface; Introduction; 1. Enlightenment and doubt; 2. History resolved by mind; 3. History resolved by men; 4. History resolved by laws I; 5. History resolved by laws II; 6. History resolved by laws III; 7. History resolved by will; 8. History doubted; 9. History ignored; 10. History unresolved; Conclusion; Bibliographies; Index.

'Hawthorn's approach has the merit of transcending a number of familiar and overworked polarities often used to give shape to the apparent heterogeneity of sociological thought … [His] accounts of France, Germany and Britain are terse, but rich, blending intellectual history with the sociology of knowledge in a way that avoids the reductionism to which the latter is so notoriously prone. [He] has summarized with extraordinary economy and lucidity the major developments in the rise of European Sociology.' The Times Literary Supplement